Also in the programme: notorious Russian paramilitary organisation the Wagner Group increases its activities in Africa, while Hungary decides on Finland’s Nato bid. Plus: why Greenland has decided to stick to daylight saving time.
March 27, 2023: A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, we explore the world according to XI. Also, we look at the excruciating trade-off central bankers face (09:56) and why editing Roald Dahl for sensitivity was silly (17:28).
March 24, 2023: Benjamin Netanyahu’s UK visit. Plus: Emmanuel Macron digs in his heels as pension-reform rallies erupt across France, Honduras switches ties from Taiwan to China and the latest business news.
March 20, 2023: A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, what’s wrong with the banks? Also, we ask whether Bibi will break Israel (10:39) and why men should get a good night’s sleep to ensure vaccines work properly (19:03).
Rising interest rates have left banks exposed. Time to fix the system—again
Only ten days ago you might have thought that the banks had been fixed after the nightmare of the financial crisis in 2007-09. Now it is clear that they still have the power to cause a heart-stopping scare. A ferocious run at Silicon Valley Bank on March 9th saw $42bn in deposits flee in a day. svb was just one of three American lenders to collapse in the space of a week. Regulators worked frantically over the weekend to devise a rescue. Even so, customers are asking once again if their money is safe.
When Israel’s best and brightest are up in arms it is time to worry
This should have been Israel’s moment. As it approaches its 75th birthday in April the risk of a conventional war with neighbouring Arab states, for decades an existential danger, is at its lowest since 1948. The last Palestinian intifada, or uprising against occupation, ended 18 years ago. Israel’s tech-powered economy is more successful and globally relevant than ever. Last year gdp per person hit $55,000, making it richer than the eu.
Vaccines get all the glory, but it is really the immune system that does the heavy lifting. Indeed, those with weak immune systems often benefit little from vaccines. Aware of this, researchers have long thought that people deprived of sleep also ought to benefit less from vaccines, as sleeping less is thought to reduce immune function. A new analysis reveals that this is clearly the case—though only in men.
March 19, 2023 – A walking tour of Carmel Market, King George St., Dizengoff Center, Habima Theatre, Rothschild Blvd., and South Tel Aviv.
Video timeline: 00:00 Carmel Market 13:03 King George St. 24:40 Dizengoff Center 27:24 Dizengoff St. 30:26 Dizengoff Square 32:08 Dizengoff St. 43:00 Habima Theatre 45:21 Rothschild Blvd. 01:09:16 South Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv–Yafo, Yafo also spelled Jaffa or Joppa, Arabic Yāfā, major city and economic centre in Israel, situated on the Mediterranean coast some 40 miles (60 km) northwest of Jerusalem.
Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as a Jewish garden suburb of the ancient Mediterranean port of Jaffa (now Yafo), with which it was joined in 1950. By the beginning of the 21st century, the modern city of Tel Aviv had developed into a major economic and cultural centre. Tel Aviv is headquarters for a number of government ministries, including the Ministry of Defense, as well as other public organizations, such as the Histadrut (General Federation of Labour). Most of the foreign embassies in Israel are also located in the city. In addition, most of Israel’s large corporations are headquartered in Tel Aviv.
Rising interest rates have left banks exposed. Time to fix the system—again
Only ten days ago you might have thought that the banks had been fixed after the nightmare of the financial crisis in 2007-09. Now it is clear that they still have the power to cause a heart-stopping scare. A ferocious run at Silicon Valley Bank on March 9th saw $42bn in deposits flee in a day. svb was just one of three American lenders to collapse in the space of a week.
Jerusalem, HebrewYerushalayim, Arabic Bayt al-Muqaddas or Al-Quds, ancient city of the Middle East that since 1967 has been wholly under the rule of the State of Israel.
Long an object of veneration and conflict, the holy city of Jerusalem has been governed, both as a provincial town and a national capital, by an extended series of dynasties and states. In the early 20th century the city, along with all of historic Palestine, became the focus of the competing national aspirations of Zionists and Palestinian Arabs. This struggle often erupted in violence. The United Nations (UN) attempted to declare the city a corpus separatum (Latin: “separate entity”)—and, thus, avert further conflict—but the first Arab-Israeli war, in 1948, left Jerusalem divided into Israeli (west Jerusalem) and Jordanian (East Jerusalem) sectors. The following year Israel declared the city its capital.
Many groups who identify as Indigenous don’t claim to be first peoples; many who did come first don’t claim to be Indigenous. Can the concept escape its colonial past?
When the country’s mining industry collapsed, a criminal economy grew in its place, with thousands of men climbing into some of the deepest shafts in the world, searching for leftover gold.
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